Focused on survivorship

Dr. Scott Baker, a pediatric oncologist, is the new director of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Survivorship Program

March 23, 2009

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By Christi Ball Loso

Dr. Scott Baker's primary focus will be on late effects of cancer therapy, especially in patients who have undergone hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation.

Photo by Dean Forbes

Dr. Scott Baker, a pediatric oncologist from the University of Minnesota, recently joined the Clinical Research Division and is the new director of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Survivorship Program along with co-director Dr. Karen Syrjala. Baker will also work in pediatric blood and marrow transplantation at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, lead the pediatric survivorship program at Seattle Children's and serve as professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington.

Baker's research has focused on short- and long-term effects of blood and marrow transplantation. He has investigated the incidence, risk factors and characteristics of cardiopulmonary, metabolic, renal, endocrine and reproductive late effects and quality-of-life outcomes in long-term cancer survivors.

"As cures for adults and children with cancer become more and more successful there is an ever-increasing population of cancer survivors," Baker said. "These survivors have been largely neglected in the past, but their unique needs are now beginning to come to the forefront in health care."

At the Center, Baker's primary focus will be on late effects of cancer therapy, especially in patients who have undergone hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation. "The Hutchinson Center and SCCA have been leaders in this field, and I hope to maintain that momentum and keep the field moving forward with innovative survivorship research as well as by providing state-of-the-art clinical care and psychosocial support for cancer survivors in this region," he said.

Baker receives funding through grants from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health and National Cancer Institute. He is a member of the steering committee for Cancer Control and Late Effects of the Children’s Oncology Group. In addition, he serves on subcommittees for the National Marrow Donor Program, the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research, the Histiocyte Society and the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology.